The Beautiful Island of Sal
Our experience of Sal island is that as soon as we arrived there we felt relaxed; Sal island just has this energy about it of peace and tranquility. My wife and I have travelled the island of Sal and have always felt safe and secure. My wife feels quite comfortable travelling to the island on her own, the people are very friendly and not intimidating, they do their best to help you enjoy your stay.
Sal is Portuguese for salt and Sal was once famous for its salt-pans. It still has a salt lake at Pedra de Lume where you can float high as in the Dead Sea.
Sal is the most developed of all the Cape Verde islands in terms of tourists. Yet still has a desert island feel with miles and miles of beautiful white sandy beaches and crystal clear turquoise seas with and abundance of sea life and of course the great leather back turtles.
In the North of the island you will find a salt lake in an extinct volcano crater, which is an impressive sight, where you can float in the salt ponds.
Nature & Wildlife
Marine life around the coast of Sal is amazing with countless species including flamboyant tropical fish, dolphins and turtles.
The sand dunes are an area of natural conservation where the turtles come onto the beach to lay their eggs.
Live Music
Live music plays a huge part in Cape Verdean culture and is often performed live in various bars in Santa Maria during the evening. This unique experience and one not to be missed.
Water Sports
Sal’s long sandy beaches and turquoise water make a wonderful playground for water sports enthusiasts. It is also the perfect place for relaxing in the sun on the quiet uncrowded beaches and enjoying long walks long the coastline, the beach being over 7 km long.
Sal is considered to be amongst the world’s top 5 windsurfing location. 
Sal hosts the world’s Wind Surfing Championships and its where the World Windsurfing Champion lives and teaches. So it is not uncommon to see bright coloured sails dotted around the ocean. Kite surfing, diving and deep-sea fishing are also very big on Sal. There are plenty of places to hire equipment, have lessons and organise trips, enjoy a day trip to a nearby island Boavista known for its sand dunes, by catamaran.
Hire quad bikes for the day and explore the island.
The island’s main port Palmeria is a working fishing harbour.
Read What the UK Press Say:
“Holiday World recently featured one of the Cape Verde islands predicting it as a hotspot and Thomson agree that the business here will boom with even more new hotels and apartments being built on the 10 islands of the coast of Africa.
The head of product Alan Pugh says “This is THE trendy hotspot for 2008 –all year –round sunshine, miles of sandy beaches and a mix of African and Portuguese culture and cuisine. Prices are much better than similar destinations in the med and bookings have been so strong that we’ve added flights from Birmingham and Manchester as well as Gatwick”.
Source: News of the World
For golfers: Ernie Els was interviewed by Cape Verde media – here is the interview
Why is Cape Verde a destination for a major golf course?
“It is a beautiful place, which is the main thing. It is amazing how it has remained largely undiscovered by tourism for as long as it has. I think, however, that is all about to change. Cape Verde is an exciting region with incredible growth opportunities. Not often do you get the chance to participate in a project that is going to help build a new era for a country but that is what we have done here in cape Verde.”
What were your first impressions of the sites for the courses?
“Like I said it is just beautiful here. My first impressions were, “Wow. This could really be something” I was excited. We all were.”
How good do you believe these courses can be?
“They will be as good as we can make them, you can be sure of that. We have a commitment to quality at Ernie Els Design and all the guys are passionate about what they do. I would not want to be involved if it was any other way.”
Will the courses be tailored for top or average golfers?
“One of my design philosophies is that a golf course should be playable and enjoyable for golfers of all standards. Each course will have views of the ocean, dramatic hills and varied landscapes.”